As BBC Preps Period Adaptation, Critically Acclaimed Victorian War of the Worlds the True Story Expands Across The Globe.

June 0219:362017

“Ever since the 1953 movie adaptation of War Of The Worlds there have been numerous other translations of Wells’ novel, even a 1988 short lived TV series, but of all the ones I have seen the only two—yes, only two—I find worthy of repeated viewings is the ’53 film and this new 2013 docudrama.” – Shawn Francis, You Won Cannes

As the BBC plans to go into production of a Victorian version of The War of the Worlds, a critically acclaimed version of the Wells’ classic, War of the Worlds The True Story, expands into the UK, the EU and throughout the planet on DVD and streaming through Amazon.

From War of the Worlds the True Story director, Timothy Hines:

“I have been with the material of The War of the Worlds for a long time. I am very excited that the BBC is doing a version. It is going to be increadible. Just stoked about that.

The evolution of my film War of the Worlds The True Story is that I was analyzing the various aspects of Wells’ choice of narrative. The War of the Worlds breaks down to primarily two points of views. A first person ‘as experienced’ story and an ‘omniscient war narrator’ describing the battles and the effects upon the planet Earth.

In The War of the Worlds, the narrative switches from the writers’ personal point of view and experiences to an omniscient perspective usually describing the larger, war and invasion events.

It hit me that H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds reads just like a classic war documentary such as World at War and Victory at Sea. In fact every war documentary follows the same format. Switching from 1st person, eyewitness testimony to give the ‘proof’ of the event through memories and feelings, then 3rd person as a narrator tells of the battles, the plans of the generals or admirals. SO as the war documentaries came after The War of the Wolds, they are all using Wells’ Format.

This is exactly how Wells jumps back and forth with The War of the Worlds. A writer and his experiences of trying to reunite with his wife and the larger effects on the world as told through the narrator.

That’s what I did with War of the Worlds the True Story. I kept it in its Victorian setting, centered it around the interview of and 86 year old survivor remembering back, reenactments based on his memories, and all out battle scenes that uses every piece of public domain war footage from or near the period and digitizes in over scaled stop motion models of 10 story high three legged walking fighting machines with heat rays.

It worked perfectly as I never had to change Wells’ story structure, rhythms, perspectives. The brother’s narrative is inside of the writer’s story. It is the writer recounting his brother’s experience to us.

So like a fast paced War Documentary, War of the Worlds the true story is able to stay true to Wells’ book, in fact bring his direct vision to life in a more compelling and direct way than any other version of the book.”

What if the Earth/Mars battle from H.G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds wasn’t fiction but actually fact? That’s the story of WAR OF THE WORLDS THE TRUE STORY, contender for the 85th Academy Award Oscars, including consideration for best adapted screenplay, best editing and best original score.

Like the famous 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast that caused Americans to believe an actual invasion was in progress, the movie assumes an Earth/Mars War actually occurred in the year 1900 and is presented as the eyewitness memoir of journalist Bertie Wells, the last living survivor as he struggles to find his wife amidst the destruction of humankind at the hands of terrifying alien invaders.

Ain’t It Cool News critic Ambush Bug raved, “The best film I had the privilege of seeing this week was WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE TRUE STORY.” With glowing praise, he went on to say things such as, “Even the sci fi effects feel authentic with all of the shaky and grainy camerawork. I especially loved watching the attacks of both the aliens and the giant machines. Everything is treated with a serious and dire tone and there’s even a touching love story in the middle of it all as well to add an extra bit of depth that, coming from the narrator’s POV, will definitely make your heart swell.” He then summed it up by saying, “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE TRUE STORY is one of the coolest little films I’ve come across in quite a while. As if the Orson Welles radio broadcast wasn’t mythic enough, along comes this mock-doc to add a whole new layer of intrigue to H.G. Wells’ fascinating story. Highly recommended to those who love revisionist history, alien invasion films, and thrilling real life documentaries.”

Critic Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said, “’War of the Worlds The True Story is clever like Wells. Hugely inventive and ambitious, a mock sci-fi docudrama packed with a truly impressive — and clever — mix of editing (a reported 3 1/2 years’ worth), special effects, visual artistry and offbeat storytelling.”

Frank Scheck, critic of The Hollywood Reporter called the movie, “Impressive for its technical achievements…Director/Editor Hines weaves the various styles of footage together in expert fashion.”

“Ever since the 1953 movie adaptation of War Of The Worlds there have been numerous other translations of Wells’ novel, even a 1988 short lived TV series, but of all the ones I have seen the only two—yes, only two—I find worthy of repeated viewings is the ’53 film and this new 2013 docudrama.” – Shawn Francis, You Won Cannes

Steven Rose Jr. of the Sacramento Examiner gave the movie 5 out of 5 stars and said, “’The True Story’ carries the suspense and drama of both the 1953 movie and Spielberg’s 2005 version but in a more realistic manner through its documentary style.”

“The aliens are unsettling, with bright, evil eyes and writhing tentacles. The designs of the tripods and the aliens are much truer to the book than other versions,” said reviewer Tristan Hiegler of the PT Leader

The movie review site Apocalypse Later lavishes raves for WAR OF THE WORLDS THE TRUE STORY, a movie that competed in the 85th Academy Awards and has gained critical acclaim from critics and movie audiences.

Critic Hal C F Astell for the review site Apocalypse Later said, “Critics hear the word ‘journey’ a lot and it doesn’t usually mean much, but here it’s quite clearly about as appropriate as it gets.” And “It’s a tribute to the dedication of Hines and his more honest and loyal partners that War of the Worlds: The True Story was even started, let alone finished and released to critical acclaim. A worthy movie that stayed true to Wells’s original vision is a task perhaps best left to masochists, but Hines stuck it out and it clearly paid off.”

Critic Astell went on to compare the movie to delicious desert and fun events, ”I love that idea enough that it isn’t just strawberries, it’s strawberries with cream, served during Wimbledon.” He discussed the large scope of the picture, “Destruction on a scale that even Spielberg can’t compete with.” His review talked about the technical aspects of WAR OF THE WORLDS THE TRUE STORY, “That rapid editing does its best to move everything along and wash over us like a visual overdose. Impeccable technical work that went on to make this seem like authentic footage. Watch this and you’ll swear that there were tripods in World War I…To say the stock footage is well integrated is understating the case. The slavish devotion to detail is admirable and it pays off. Military historians would certainly have a field day deciphering the variety of source material in evidence, not only to identify where it came from but also what was actually original…Where were your grandparents when the Martians invaded?”